At the age of 50 Ian Martin gave up his regular job and moved to a remote coastal village near the southern tip of Africa. Drawing on his experiences as an insurance clerk, naval store man, lavatory attendant, assistant farm foreman,temporary school teacher, hospital orderly, weather station medic and house builder, he began the next phase of his life. Now, after more than a decade, he has produced three novels, a fictionalized autobiography and many short articles and stories, and he is still writing. When asked how he has been able to survive for so long without having written a bestseller, he says he is entirely dependent on his wife, who goes out to work. Otherwise he would have died from starvation.